Top 10 Draft-night blunders in Utah Jazz history
By Ryan Aston
8) Dealing for Curtis Borchardt (2002)
On TNT’s live telecast of the ’02 draft, future Jazz coach Quin Snyder had a lot of nice things to say about Curtis Borchardt’s burgeoning skillset. I’m not picking on Coach Q — ESPN called Borchardt a Top 10 talent in their write-up on the big man ahead of the draft and they weren’t alone in that thinking.
The honorable mention All-American out of Stanford had the look of a highly-skilled center with a smooth offensive game and shot-blocking ability to boot. The rub was that Borchardt had recurring issues with stress fractures in his foot; a death knell for big men trying to go through the NBA grind.
Nevertheless, the Jazz pulled off a draft-night trade with the Orlando Magic to acquire his services. And, sure enough, he missed the entirety of the 2002-03 season and failed to make an impact in two subsequent seasons in Utah. He was out of the league by 2005.
Next: No. 7